“Why did it take it a whopping 6 months ( in a 2-year tenure of a president into whose election it wants to enquire) before waking up to its duties? And only when its Chair and the president are crossing swords on a different matter altogether.“
A former Rivers State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice Worgu Boms has condemned the invitation of Nigeria’s Body of Benchers (BoB) by Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and to investigate the 2022 national elections of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) which he alleged was susceptible to fraud, manipulation, rigging and pre-programing of votes.
Gadzama, SAN, and Mr. Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, the current NBA President contested for office in 2022.
Meanwhile, law teacher and legal practitioner, Sylvester Udemezue has said “the Body of Benchers lacks jurisdiction to conduct investigations into any elections of the Nigerian Bar Association.”
Sharing his opinion on the matter, Boms pointed out that “even if it (BoB) had jurisdiction, (assuming it does have), why did it take it a whopping 6 months ( in a 2-year tenure of a president into whose election it wants to enquire) before waking up to its duties? And only when its Chair and the president are crossing swords on a different matter altogether.”
Boms further wondered: “Is the BoB not caught by those pleas of laches, of acquiescence, of waiver, etc., etc especially considering that the frontline loser of that election was proudly at the Conference to swear in the one who defeated him, The Lagos Conference, where he was introduced to the audience/conferees by the outgoing President and he stood up and, in a manner suggestive of large-heartedness and civility, because of the narrative by the president, preceding his introduction as attending the conference in person, took a bow in acknowledgment of the greetings and applause from us showing that we too, in reciprocation, admired his standard of letting go.
“For over a century since the Legal profession dawned here, its members, with their unique dressings and mannerisms, have been enchanting and mesmerising laymen making them believe we are the gold standard of all that is best and brightest in the society.
“Small, small, we have been demystifying ourselves. Soon, the same people we have been doing nyanga and show to, will be telling us: ‘Physician, Heal Thyself’. My name is Worgu Boms.”
Udemezue in his article wrote “A 24 January news report under the headline ‘Body Of Benchers Passes Vote Of Confidence On Chair, Wole Olanipekun, Set To Probe 2022 NBA Election’ has it that the Body of Benchers has ‘resolved to set up a committee to look into reports of electoral malpractices surrounding the last [i.e., 2022] NBA general elections’. This leaves one wondering where the Body of Benchers gets the power to dabble into NBA national elections.”
In his long treatise titled Body of Benchers lacks jurisdiction to conduct investigations into any elections of the Nigerian Bar Association and published on 25 January 2023 by Law & Society Magazine, Udemezue concluded: “It’s respectfully submitted that no institution/authority other than the National Officers Elections Appeal Committee of the NBA, has legitimate authority to look into any allegations in re NBA national elections.”
